Home Oldtimer insurance heavily duped

Classic car owners badly affected

It has not been easy for old-timer owners lately, and their hobby enjoyment will probably only decrease. Insurance companies are drastically increasing the premiums for old-timer insurance and tightening the acceptance standards, while the government is promising old-timer drivers a hefty road tax.

Favourable old-timer scheme restricted

Where old-timers used to be completely exempt from road tax, this will no longer be the case in the future and old-timer owners will have to pay a hefty price. The cheap insurance policies for old-timers have also been tightened up in terms of acceptance conditions and have been greatly increased in price. A logical consequence of the fact that the premiums had not been increased for years and that the burden of claims has for some time been disproportionate to the premium, but nevertheless a financial setback for the old-timer enthusiast. Especially if you add to that the insurance premium tax that the government increased in January 2013 (from 9.7 to 21 percent). Unfortunately, this does not bode well for the owners of the 260 thousand old-timers with a Dutch registration number (CBS June 2013).

Abuse

The oldtimer insurance was until now a very cheap insurance, because the hobby car rarely left the garage for a pleasure ride and the risk of damage for the insurer was therefore very small. In recent years, however, old-timer insurance has been used more and more as an old car insurance instead of a 'hobby insurance' and the condition that the old-timer should not be used for daily rides has been ignored en masse. The risk of damage and the cost of claims subsequently rose explosively and the cost of claims was actually no longer in proportion to the low premiums. An increase in premiums was therefore inevitable. But the real oldtimer enthusiast now seems to be the one footing the bill.

What is an old-timer?

An oldtimer is not just an 'old car'. Cars nowadays have a longer life due to the use of increasingly better quality materials and techniques. That is why cars of 25 years and older (which can be regarded as old-timers) are still in a good condition and are still used on a daily basis. Because of the low insurance premium and the exemption from road tax, these 'old-timers' were chosen more and more, but the old-timer insurance is and was ultimately intended for the hobbyist who, after refurbishing the old car, enjoys an occasional pleasure trip.

So what exactly is going to change?

Besides the fact that the insurance premiums are being increased, the acceptance standards have been adjusted in such a way that only the old-timer enthusiast can possibly benefit from the favourable rates, but by setting general rules, it is of course possible that the hobbyist will also be affected. The Europeesche, for example, now has the condition that the old-timer must be parked in a locked shed, Avro refuses old-timers that run on LPG or diesel and Nationale Nederlanden makes a first use car obligatory when taking out old-timer insurance.

Furthermore, certain car brands will be excluded, the permitted annual mileage will be lowered, a minimum valuation will apply, old-timers under the age of 25 will no longer be regarded as old-timers and a brand club must exist for the vehicle so that it is clear that it is a collector's item. In short, the old-timer enthusiast will, depending on the insurer, be confronted with many new acceptance conditions and the question is whether he can comply with them or whether there is no other option than to insure the old-timer at the regular passenger car rate.

For vintage car owners, it pays to comparethe premiums and terms of vintage car insurance at Alpina.nl and, if desired, take out the insurance directly.
It is increasingly difficult to find an insurance company that combines a low premium with favorable conditions, said Marc Alpina, co-owner of Alpina. To date, we are still able to negotiate favorable rates with companies, but we have noticed that this has become increasingly difficult. Alpina has been a specialist in classic car insurance for more than 20 years and is one of the largest providers of classic car insurance in the Netherlands.

Government also gets a piece of the pie

The basis for the (partial) abolishment of the exemption from road tax for old-timers is that the cabinet wants to 'punish' CO2 emissions (the polluter pays) with more tax for the larger amount of emissions. Especially old-timers on LPG or diesel are very polluting and will therefore be taxed more heavily. In the original draft, the complete abolition of the old-timer scheme would yield 153 million in tax annually. Now that these plans have been adjusted, it will still yield 133 million. The provisional plans still have to be approved by the Lower and Upper Houses of Parliament. If the plans go through, 70% of old-timer owners (VWE vehicle information and documentation) will be affected and it is expected that the number of driving cultural heritage vehicles will decrease significantly as of 1 January 2014.

If you want to read more about the change in road tax for old-timers, please find below our news items on this subject: